Big Renaissance Frescoes Tour

A Celebration of the Rich Families of Florence in Santa Maria Novella and Santa Trinita by Domenico Ghirlandaio

The buon fresco (true fresco) gives the colours great permanence and resistance to aging, as they are an integral part of the wall's surface, rather than a superimposed layer of paint. The fresco medium is very demanding of a painter's technical skill, since he must work fast (while the plaster is wet,) but cannot correct mistakes by painting over.

Many rich families in the Renaissance purchased big fresco cycles to exalt their houses and power. Portraits of the members of the house, with plenty of details in clothing and architectural design, were expressly required of the painters. The Tornabuoni found their celebration in the enormous main chapel of Santa Maria Novella Church, and the Sassetti in Santa Trinita Church. The artist in charge was Domenico Ghirlandaio, the number one visual biographer of Renaissance Florence.

For more information or to book, email StudentsVille staff.

Duration:
2.5 Hours

Cost: €28 / person (for a minimum of 6 people - for larger or smaller groups, contact us for special prices!)

Included: Official tour guide and entrance to Santa Croce Church

Start time: 2:30 pm

Meeting Point:
Piazza della Repubblica, near the Hard Rock Cafe

When: Every day

What we see: Santa Maria Novella, Santa Trinita

Description of the tour:
Giovanni Tornabuoni was the brother of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, and therefore Lorenzo il Magnifico's uncle. He was director of the family's bank in Rome, as treasurer of Pope Sixtus IV. The Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella Church is famous for the extensive and well-preserved fresco cycle on its walls, one of the most complete in the city, which was created by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop between 1485 and 1490. One of his youngest collaborators was Michelangelo Buonarroti. He decorated the chapel with the lives of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, patron of Tornabuoni and of the city of Florence.

Francesco Sassetti (1421-1490) was a rich banker and a member of the Medici entourage, for which he directed the Medici Bank. In 1478 he acquired the chapel of St. Francis in Santa Trinita Church, commissioning the decoration to Domenico Ghirlandaio, who portrayed numerous figures of contemporary Florentine society in the scenes, depicting the story of the life of St. Francis from Assisi.